Roasted Cherry Tomatoes

It's gardening season!!  Do you have a garden?  What are you growing??

Right now, I have the most delicious lettuce coming in and my tomato plants are filled with those little beautiful yellow flowers of promise and I couldn't be more excited.  A few years ago I ventured into my first attempt at gardening and I planted 15 tomato plants...and they all gave me the best harvest, but um, that's A LOT of 'maters, people.  This year, I got smart and I only planted two!  Still, I plan to get tons of tomatoes and hope to share lots of tomato recipes this summer!

The first recipe I want to share with you is this little gem below.  Recently, my local grocery store had a BOGO on cherry tomatoes and even though Hubs doesn't eat them (I know; a freak, right??), I wasn't going to let this opportunity slip by because I knew I could come up with something to use them for.  THEN, I remembered that my Bestie & I had some delicious roasted tomatoes on our Girls Weekend a few weeks ago.  I couldn't get over how yummy they were and she told me how easy they were to make...my Bestie is really smart so I try to do what she says.  So, Roasted Cherry Tomatoes it was!

You all know how healthy tomatoes are but if you haven't done your homework on these beauts, let me quickly fill you in: 

• They have been found to ward off certain cancers like stomach and lung
• They are high in vitamins A & C and could prevent DNA damage & age-related diseases like diabetes and atherosclerosis
• They are also great sources of folate and B6 which can help to reduce heart disease

Not to mention how versatile they are for recipes!

Ingredients:
3-4 pints of cherry tomatoes (really any kind of tomato will work)
4-5 cloves of garlic, unpeeled
2T fresh thyme leaves
2-3 springs of fresh rosemary, roughly chopped
Olive Oil spray like Misto
Salt & Pepper, to taste

Preparation:
This is one of those recipes where you can set it and forget it.  It takes no time to get the ingredients going; a great lazy Sunday recipe.  You're going to want to roast these low and slow...like a good BBQ...mmmm BBQ...

Preheat your oven to 250.

Spray a baking sheet with nonstick spray and set aside.

Cut your tomatoes in half and then spread them out onto the baking sheet.  Doesn't have to be pretty, just spread them out.  Throw your garlic cloves in there, too.

Now spray the tops of them with your olive oil spray and sprinkle the thyme leaves, rosemary & sprigs, salt and pepper over the tomatoes.

Place them in the oven and let them roast for a good 3 hours.  You're going to want them to get shrively and dried.

Once they are done, remove them from the oven and enjoy!

You can freeze these for later use (up to 3 months), or just pop them into a baggie into your fridge and enjoy them throughout the week.  I have thrown them into my eggs for breakfast, my veggies for dinner - any way I can use them, I do!

I also made a great Monterey Chicken with them which I will share here very soon!

They are a thing of beauty and the taste is amazing!  Go get some tomatoes and make these SOON!

Nutrition*:
Makes about 2 cups or eight 1/4 cup servings
Calories 32 / Carbs 3g / Fat 2g / Protein 1g / Fiber 1g / Sodium 120mg

*Please note the nutrition information provided is an approximation based on the online recipe calculator that I use.